Fact Sheets:
Hamas - The Islamic Resistance Movement

(Updated January 2011)

The goal of Hamas is
clear. As stated in the organization’s covenant,
the Islamic Resistance Movement “strives
to raise the banner of Allah over every
inch of Palestine.” Its platform states
that “there is no solution for the
Palestinian question except through jihad (holy
war).” The group warns that any Muslim
who leaves “the circle of struggle
with Zionism” is
guilty of “high treason.” No
negotiations or compromises are possible.

Israel has
long feared that if Hamas was
not destroyed, it would establish a terrorist
base on its doorstep. If the Palestinian
Authority had fulfilled its principal road
map obligations, representatives
of Hamas would
not be legislators, they’d be in jail
and the organization would have been
dismantled.

While democratic outcomes
are preferable to the alternatives, the rest
of the world is not obligated to have a relationship
with elected leaders whose policies and views
are dangerous. Adolf Hitler was
elected by the German people, but few people
today would suggest that the rest of the
world should have ignored his genocidal views
and treated him as an equal just because
he emerged from a democratic process.

The Palestinian people chose
to elect members of an organization whose
avowed purpose is the destruction of Israel.
As the Wall Street Journal noted, “Palestinians
need to understand that the exercise of self-government
carries consequences.”

Since the election, Hamas leaders
have reaffirmed their
commitment to liberating
all of Palestine and said they have no
intention of disarming. Hamas can
now take over the security services
and seize weapons previously
given to the Palestinian
Authority by Israel and others to keep
the peace. The institutions that were bound
by agreements to
stop the violence, confiscate illegal weapons,
end smuggling and cease incitement are
now controlled by the very people most
responsible for terror, gun running, and
the use of the media and schools to demonize
Israel and Jews.

While Israel has vowed to
fight against the threat posed by Hamas,
it has also held open the possibility of
negotiating peace with the new leaders of
the PA,
provided they meet conditions similar to
those imposed before Israel and the United
States recognized the Palestine
Liberation Organization — dismantling
the terrorist infrastructure, accepting all
previously contracted agreements between
Israel and the Palestinians, and repudiating
those parts of the Hamas covenant denying
Israel’s right to exist.

It is sometimes alleged
that Israel created Hamas.
This is untrue. The organization grew out
of the ideology and practice of the Islamic
fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood movement
that arose in Egypt in
the 1920s.

Though Hamas was committed
from the outset to destroying Israel, it took the
position that this was a goal for the future,
and that the more immediate focus should
be on winning the hearts and minds of the
people through its charitable and educational
activities. Its funding came primarily from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The PLO was
convinced that Israel was helping Hamas in
the hope of triggering a civil war. Israel’s
assistance, however, was more passive than
active, that is, it did not interfere with Hamas activities
or prevent funds from flowing into the organization
from abroad. Israel also may have provided
some funding to allow its security forces
to infiltrate the organization. Since Hamas did
not engage in terror at first, Israel did
not see it as a serious short-term threat,
and some Israelis believed the rise of fundamentalism
in Gaza would have the beneficial impact
of weakening the PLO,
and this is what ultimately happened.

Though some Israelis were
very concerned about Hamas before rioting
began in December 1987, Israel was reluctant
to interfere with an Islamic organization,
fearing that it might trigger charges of
violating the Palestinians’ freedom
of religion. It was not until early in the intifada,
when Hamas became actively involved in the
violence, that the group began to be viewed
as a potentially greater threat than the PLO. The turning point occurred in the summer
of 1988 when Israel learned that Hamas was
stockpiling arms to build an underground
force and Hamas issued its covenant calling
for the destruction of Israel. At this point
it became clear that Hamas was not going
to put off its jihad to
liberate Palestine and was shifting its emphasis
from charitable and educational activity
to terrorism.
Israel then began to crack down on Hamas and wiped out its entire command structure. Hamas has been waging a terror war against
Israel ever since.

Apologists for Palestinian
terror sometimes
argue that Hamas shouldn’t
be labeled a terrorist organization because
only some members engage in murder while
others perform charitable or political
activity. A false distinction is made
between the “political” and “military” wings
of Hamas. All of the activities of Hamas are intertwined, and serve the organization’s
primary objective laid out in its covenant.
Hamas’s leader, Sheikh
Ahmad Yassin, denied that Hamas had
uncoordinated wings: “We cannot separate
the wing from the body. If we do so, the
body will not be able to fly. Hamas is
one body.” And the “political” leaders
of Hamas freely admit their relationship
to the murderers. “The political
leadership,” Hamas spokesman, ‘Abd
al-‘Aziz ar-Rantisi said, “has
freed the hand of the [‘Izz ad-Din
al-Qassam] brigades to do whatever they
want against the brothers of monkeys and
pigs [i.e., Jews].”

While Hamas does engage in
social work, this is closely connected to
the “armed struggle.” Various
charitable activities are used to recruit
young Palestinians for terrorist operations.
Hospitals, mosques, sport clubs, libraries,
and schools serve not only their expected
roles, but also act as covers for hiding
weapons, obtaining supplies, and indoctrinating
future suicide bombers. In May 2009, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that Hamas raided 46 ambulances, that had been sent as humanitarian aid from neighboring Arab states, of the medical equipment they contained and then used them as military vehicles to arrest citizens. (PMW, June 8, 2009)

The education system is used
to incite young Palestinians to become martyrs.“The
children of the kindergarten are the shaheeds [martyrs] of tomorrow,” read signs
in a Hamas-run school, while placards in
classrooms at al-Najah University in the West
Bank and at Gaza’s Islamic
University declare that “Israel has
nuclear bombs; we have human bombs.” In August 2008, Hamas replaced hundreds of striking members of the local teachers' union with Hamas loyalists, purging the Gaza public school system of its politcal rivals. (Jerusalem Post, August 27, 2008)

Hamas operatives use Islamic
charities and social welfare programs to
skim and launder funds, and to earn money
to live on while they engage in terrorism.
Recipients of Hamas charity also understand
there is a quid pro quo. If they are asked
to provide assistance, whether it be to hide
weapons, provide a safe house for a fugitive,
or act as a courier, few are likely to refuse.

The United States government
recognizes the connection between the charitable
activities of Hamas and its terrorist campaign,
which is why the Treasury Department designated six
senior Hamas political leaders and five charities
as terrorist entities. According to Treasury, “the
political leadership of Hamas directs its
terrorist networks just as they oversee their
other activities.”